Imaging fiber bundles can relay a curved image surface to a conventional at focal plane, effectively providing the curved image sensor needed for some high performance lenses. If the fiber bundle period or image sensor pitch are very different, the system resolution is determined by the oversampled fiber or sensor feature. But crosstalk imposes an approximately 2µm minimum waveguide pitch, and light collection and fabrication constraints impose a lower limit of 1-2µm for the sensor pitch. Maximizing image information leads to some degree of aliasing, which appears in the form of moiré pattern on the raw image sensed. For example, a 30 Mpixel 120° field of view imager using a 1.75µm Bayer filtered CMOS focal plane with 2.5µm pitch fiber bundle yielded images with visible moiré. Here we present a study of moiré effects in fiber-coupled image sensors, including a method for quantitative analysis of moiré, and experimental characterization of the sensors with 1.1µm pixel pitch, the highest spatial resolution in commercially available focal plane arrays. We investigate the effect of exposure time of the sensor, angle of incidence of collimated light, and imaging lens F/# on the raw moiré pattern strength. This study provides guidelines for optimization and operation of high resolution fiber-coupled imagers.
Monocentric lenses allow high resolution panoramic cameras, where imaging fiber bundles transport the hemispherical image surface to conventional focal planes. Refraction at the curved image surface limits the field of view coupled through a single bundle of straight fibers to less than ±34°, even for NA 1 fibers. Previously we have demonstrated a nearly continuous 128° field of view using a single lens and multiple adjacent straight fiber-coupled image sensors, but this imposes mechanical complexity of fiber bundle shaping and integration. However, a 3D waveguide structure with internally curved optical fiber pathways can couple the full continuous field of view onto a single focal plane. Here, we demonstrate wide-field imaging using a monocentric lens and a single curved fiber bundle, showing that the 3D bundle formed from a tapered fiber bundle can be used for relaying a 128° field of view from a curved input to the planar output face. We numerically show the coupling efficiency of light to the tapered bundle for different field of views depends on the taper ratio of the bundle as well as center of the curvature chosen for polishing of the fiber bundle facet. We characterize a tapered fiber bundle by measuring the angle dependent impulse response, transmission efficiency and the divergence angle of the light propagating from the output end of the fiber.
Disordered optical fibers show novel waveguiding properties that can be used for various device applications, such as beam-multiplexed optical communications and endoscopic image transport. The quality of the transported image is shown to be comparable with or better than some of the best commercially available multicore image fibers with less pixelation and higher contrast. Progress and results, as well as ongoing efforts on the design, fabrication, and characterization of the disordered optical fibers will be discussed.
An optical fiber with a transversely disordered yet longitudinally invariant refractive index profile can propagate a beam of light using transverse Anderson localization. A launched beam of light into the disordered optical fiber expands till it reaches its localization radius beyond which it propagates without further expansion. In contrast to a conventional single-core optical fiber in which a propagating beam of light can only couple to and propagate in the core, the beam of light can be coupled to any point at the tip of the disordered fiber. This property originated from the localized highly multimodal property of disordered optical fibers that can be used for high quality optical image transport. We experimentally compare the quality of the transported images in the disordered polymer optical fibers with those transported through the multicore imaging fibers, as well as conventional single core fibers. The impacts of source wavelength and refractive index difference between the disordered sites on the quality of the transported images in the disordered optical fibers is studied numerically. The role of randomness in improving the quality of transported images is investigated by comparing the full vectorial modes of a disordered fiber with those in a periodic multicore fiber.
A beam of light can propagate in a time-invariant transversely disordered waveguide because of transverse Anderson localization. We developed a disordered glass optical ber from a porous artisan glass (satin quartz). The refractive index pro le of the disordered glass optical ber is composed of a non-uniform distribution of air voids which can be approximated as longitudinally invariant. The ll-fraction of air voids is higher at the regions closer to the boundary compared with the central regions. The experimental results show that the beam radius of a localized beam is smaller at the regions closer to the boundary than the one at the central regions. In order to understand the reason behind these observations, the fully vectorial modes of the disordered glass ber are calculated using the actual scanning electron microscope image of the ber tip. The numerical calculations show that the modes at regions closer to the boundary of the ber are more localized compared with the modes at the central regions. Coupling of an input beam to the less-localized modes with large tails at the central regions of the ber results in a large beam radius. In comparison, a beam of light launched at the regions close to the boundary couples to the highly compact modes of the ber and results in a small localized beam radius.
Anderson localization has been a subject of fascination and intense research for more than fifty years. It is highly desirable to harness its curious and interesting properties in practical applications. We have taken a step in this direction by using this phenomenon as the wave guiding mechanism in optical fibers. We have shown, both experimentally and numerically, that for a moderate amount of disorder in optical fibers, transverse localization results in an effective propagating beam diameter that is comparable to that of a typical index-guiding optical fiber.1, 2 In this work, we investigate the effect of macro-bending on the localization properties in a disordered polymer optical fiber both experimentally and numerically. We show that macro-bending in ranges of practical interest does not significantly affect the beam propagation in Anderson localized fibers as long as the strong localization dominates the effect of bending.
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